Texas Lightning
Meanwhile... Back At The Golden Ranch

Texas Lightning are a highly original and truly charming German band, formed in Hamburg nine years ago. Olli 'Ringofire' Dittrich, Jon 'The Flame' Flamming-Olsen, Markus 'Fastfinger' Schmidt, Uwe 'Friendly' Frenzel, and the beauty of the group, Jane Comerford, are the five-member band that loves to define itself as 'old fashioned & hip'.

They have released two studio albums and one live album so far: here I review the second album, a highly entertaining work titled «Meanwhile? Back At The Golden Ranch», which is nothing short of a collection of sixteen covers plus four originals. The peculiarity lies in the fact that these covers are revisited and reinterpreted in a country style. We have pieces of every kind: from Madonna's «Like a Virgin» to ABBA's «Dancing Queen», from Michael Jackson's «Man In The Mirror» to Sean O'Connor's «Nothing Compares To You». One of the originals is «No, No, Never», a beautiful piece that celebrates friendship, in which vocalist Jane promises 'I will not let you cry alone, I will never avoid answering when you call me, no, no, never' and which gained great success when it was released as a single in 2006. Other originals include «I Promise», «Blue Bayou», and «This Is Me», all beautifully performed in line with the general country feel of the album.

Charm and originality aside, it must be said that the band members are all refined musicians. Comerford's beautiful voice, who also plays the ukulele, alternates in the songs with the warm and well-mannered voice of Uwe Frenzel. «Meanwhile? Back At The Golden Ranch» achieved great success in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, reaching the number one spot in the charts for several weeks and even crossing the ocean: the band was indeed awarded honorary citizenship in the state of Texas. In addition to those already mentioned, here are the covers featured on the album: «Bad Case Of Loving You» (Robert Palmer), «Kiss» (Prince), «Enjoy The Silence» (Depeche Mode), «C'est La Vie» (Chuck Berry), «Highway To Hell» (AC/DC), «You're The Voice» (John Farnham), Norwegian Wood (Beatles), «Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head» (from the movie Butch Cassidy), «Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette» (Tex Williams), and «Walk On The Wild Side» (Lou Reed).

Maximum number of stars for this work, which I recommend to everyone because it is truly enjoyable, well executed, and fun.